Fluorosilicone elastomeric compositions have heretofore have been developed for a variety of end uses. For example, such compositions have been used to produce inserts for electrical connectors with generally good results. However, most of the commercially available fluorosilicones are in the form of gums which necessitate labor intensive processing techniques. Although some liquid injection molding fluorosilicone compositions are commercially available, such compositions presently are very expensive due to complex synthesis required to prevent unzipping of the fluoro group (e.g., trifluoropropyl) from an adjacent siloxane group. Examples of fluorosilicone compositions are those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,029,629; 4,032,502 and 4,100,136.
Furthermore, existing fluorosilicone compositions exhibit solvent resistance and high temperature resistance which are not as high as necessary for certain high performance environments, such as in electrical connectors for use in aircraft.
It would be desirable to provide a fluorosilicone elastomer composition that was easily processable by high speed molding techniques, such as liquid injection molding, that had improved properties and reduced costs, as well as electrical connectors including components molded from such compositions. Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide a method of preparing and curing such compositions.